April 01, 2014

It has been exactly 6 years since I wrote my first post on Love Aesthetics and my digital brainchild was born. It is the project I've been involved in for the longest amount of time in my life. My blog has lasted longer than high school. Though Love Aesthetics has slowly been growing into a thing on its own and has outgrown the format of just a blog.

Thank you all for reading and being with me all these years. The best thing about running this blog has been meeting so many of you talented readers and making a lot of new friends.
There is a Dutch expression 'stok achter de deur' which literally translates into 'stick behind the door', which means a threat in the most positive sense of the word, an extra motivation for doing something. So thank you all for stopping by each time (and leaving all the lovely comments, I've read each single one of them), you have been my 'stick behind the door' to update Love Aesthetics, to keep the ideas coming and to push myself to deliver better quality each time. I can honestly say that I love you!

Please do come and take a look at our new digital place! There are a lot of new updates waiting!
I've been working hard on it the last month together with Fleur Glansbeek and can not be more excited to finally invite you over!

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March 26, 2014

The notebook and office supply obsession continues, stationery just radiates a feeling of productivity.
And on productive days, I am the most happy.
I usually dedicate one notebook to one personal project. Every to do list and idea gets written or sketched in their proper place.
Also to keep mentally sane when working on many things at a time, it is very nice to physically close one notebook, put it away and open a new one.

This week I reached a couple of personal epiphanies, there is a lot of newness in my head.
So for this occasion, today I finally unpacked a very special, fresh, new notebook I had gotten as a gift from Maison Martin Margiela last year. I can't wait to fill it's pages, which are made out of fabric instead of paper.

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March 24, 2014

You might have seen some of these images last week on Vogue.nl already, but this mag and this gigantic bomber are too good to not share here too.

I can comfortably live in big bombers, like this enormous silk one. They are like a counterweight to ladylike tailored trousers and high heels and make the best little tents to hide in on airports. Where I spend quite a few hours last week.

Luckily the day before, Sonny Groo just handed me the newest issue of his fantastic Mykromag. It is bundle of interviews and every time the Myrkomag team manages to talk to the most interesting people from the industry. So don't expect standard Q&A's; If you read this magazine it feels like you're listening in on personal conversations. (Available at Athenaeum Amsterdam and Colette Paris)

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March 22, 2014

Still lives are my life, this still life is my life.
I utterly enjoy arranging items neatly, finding order and making a balanced composition with them and photographing it. It is usually carefully and artificially arranged.
But this little still life came into existence in a complete spontaneous way; with Giuliano, a bottle of wine and a piece of my clip in hair that was lying around (you might remember that I don't have anything against a little faux hair). It looked so fantastic that I had to recreate this moment the morning after when the sun was shining through the window and immortalize it with my camera.

wallet: Jil Sander
shoulder bag: &OtherStories

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March 19, 2014

Those rare, thrifted, treasure finds never come on a silver platter. The contrary, the stuff on most vintage markets smells like a moldy gym locker, half the staff in thrift stores is there because of community service (no friendly shop assistant to hand you your size) and you're lucky if the stock is hanging on an actual hanger. Yes you really have to dig and work for it.

I've talked about reasons why I love to shop guilt free and why I think everyone should do some secondhand shopping; no extra strain on the environment, finding unique pieces and because of the better cuts and quality that clothes had before mass production. Because I'm always asked how I manage to find the best pieces among the trash, here is a little 3-step thrift guide!

1/ Look for fabrics
Those tacky neon track jackets might grab your attention so much that you overlook the black blouse in fine silk hanging right beside it. Try to discard everything you are not looking for from your view. Now, thoroughly go through the racks or piles and look for nice prints, good quality denims, nice worn down leather, silk blouses or wool blazers. Ignore the fits and sizing. Start off by only looking (and feeling) at fabrics.

2/ Fits
Now that you have a pile of garments in the right colors and materials, it's time to further narrow down your selection: estimate the size by viewing it and keep ignoring those size labels. Size labels from other era's and regions can vary a lot, so it really doesn't say anything. A 'too small' little boy's blazer could be cropped and boxy on you. A huge 'too big' heavy wool grandpa blazer could be your next Yamamoto-style coat.

3/ Select
Look for the potential in these pieces, try to imagine how they would look belted, think about possibly cutting of length (or a frilled edge). Also inspect for stains or damages and keep in mind that these garments will look more polished after being washed and ironed.

Three Small Adjustments
/A dress can be cut at the waist to become a skirt or top. Something I used to do with my dresses when I was about 6 years old.
/Too big trousers can become fold over pants with one small adjustment like I did with these.
/Cut a slit under the arms of a jacket to get a French editor-over-the-shoulder-jacket look like I did with this DIY.

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March 15, 2014

Earlier this week I had the pleasure to digitally meet Min Kim(25) during a little FaceTime chat. After seeing her wonderful work I tracked her down like a Facebook-stalker for a little interview. It was lovely to talk with the super kind and enthusiastic Min about her creative process, her home country Korea vs. living in London, playing dress up and individuality.

Ivania/ Please do tell me more about the story behind the collection

Min/ I like to tell personal stories with my collections. I am very interested in the small things, inspiration always comes from my own experiences; like memories of dressing up with my sister. These small things become bigger, wider and more serious as I research them. There are a lot of references to stories and episodes between women on a very personal level.

My inspiration for the graduation collection came from the 'PFD phase' (Pink Frilled Dress Phase), which most girls go through. I wanted to make an issue about this situation. In my research you'll also find images of girls dressing up in big circular dresses which create unexpected silhouettes.

Ivania/ Your research is really touching, as I have a little kid and get to deal with the 'prescriptions' society has for the genders; pink for girls, blue for boys for example. It can be interpreted as quite a feminist statement you make, would you call yourself a feminist?

Min/ Exactly, there are so many color choices, society should give more space to them so they can make their own choices. I never thought about it that way. I have never deliberately wanted to make a very feminist statement with this collection.

Ivania/ What are your future plans?

Min/First I'd like to gain some experience within a team of designers and to further develop my skills. I'd love to stay in Europe.

Ivania /There are a lot of interesting fashion projects coming from Korea though, wouldn't you want to go back?

Min/Trends in Korea are on a masse scale, most people dress to impress other people. I'd like to design for women who dress for their individual self.

Ivania /We’ve only seen this one collection from you, what would you call your signature elements, or which elements can be expected to come back in your future work?

Min/ The references to episodes, stories and relationships between women. And working with silhouettes that are a bit distorted like for example the circular shapes.

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March 11, 2014

I've been working on perfecting the cut of this dress, it's getting pretty close but it's not there yet. It's a bit of a 2.0 version of a dress I made for Paris last summer. Although it still needs some work I couldn't resist wearing this little sample yesterday. Testing it out for a couple of hours even gave me some more new insights on how to improve it even more.